Chapter 127 Who dares to touch his woman?!

The day before the performance, the auditorium was bustling with people, actors rehearsing and busy colleagues, creating a lively and noisy atmosphere.

Du Wenxiu searched through the crowd and soon spotted the woman.

He quickly approached, grabbed He Xiaoman's arm, and dragged her to a dimly lit corner backstage where miscellaneous items were piled up.

"What are you doing!" He Xiaoman was startled and struggled to shake him off. "Aren't you afraid of being discovered?!"

"Shh—" Du Wenxiu put a finger to her lips and lowered her voice, "Xiaoman, I have a question for you. When you gave the leaders wine, didn't you think about giving them some cigarettes as well?"

Upon hearing this, He Xiaoman rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "Easy for you to say. Where would I get any money? My father only gave me that much. Didn't he give it all to you and exchange it all for wine?"

"Oh dear, that's such a pity." Du Wenxiu sighed dramatically. "To tell you the truth, I have connections. I can get not only large quantities of Moutai, but also top-quality cigarettes. I was originally planning to give you a hand and help your brother's future."

He leaned closer as he spoke: "You think a few cases of liquor are enough? Those old leaders are all people lining up to curry favor with them. They won't even look at what you've got. If you want your brother to become a high-ranking officer in the army, you'll have to throw some real money at him, no way!"

He Xiaoman's resolve began to waver after hearing his words, but she still had some concerns: "But...but the performance is tomorrow, is it too late to do it now?"

Du Wenxiu scoffed, puffed out her chest, and looked confident: "You know my abilities, don't you? That little saga a few days ago, the Discipline Department made a fuss about it to my dad, but it was still suppressed, wasn't it? In this military region, as long as the money is right, there's nothing I can't do! If you give me the money today, I guarantee the cigarettes will be delivered to your leader first thing tomorrow morning!"

He Xiaoman was stunned by his words, biting her lower lip, and asked, "Then...how much will it cost?"

Du Wenxiu calmly held up two fingers and waved them in front of her: "This number, plus two thousand yuan. Think about it, two thousand yuan for your brother's bright future, it's a worthwhile deal no matter how you look at it!"

Two thousand yuan!

This is no small sum. He Xiaoman's breath hitched, but thinking of her younger brother's future and how having a connection in the military region would be helpful for her family's business, she gritted her teeth and nodded, "Okay! I'll go to the communications department today! I'll send a telegram home, telling my family to wire the money to me no matter what!"

On the day of the performance, the backstage area was in complete chaos.

The principal of the primary school, with his potbelly sticking out, was boasting to the audience with spittle flying everywhere: "I guarantee that the program our school put on this year is absolutely the best in the entire military region!"

Amidst the clamor of voices, Zhao Wenchang carefully helped Jiang Wanqiu take off the military overcoat she was wearing.

The coat was removed, revealing the brightly colored clothes underneath.

The woman was wearing a beautiful Western-style evening gown, the most fashionable style at the time. The fitted waist design perfectly accentuated her slender figure. However, the dress looked rather thin and was hardly suitable for the freezing weather in Northeast China.

So, this was the first time Jiang Wanqiu had ever worn a thick pair of cotton trousers under such a beautiful long dress.

She looked down at her somewhat bulky lower body with a little unease, then looked up and asked the man beside her uncertainly, "Wenchang, do I look... weird dressed like this?"

Zhao Wenchang's gaze seemed glued to her, sliding from her delicate collarbone down to her slender wrist: "Strange? What's strange about it?"

Finally, he added, "Among all the people backstage, my wife is the most beautiful."

He wasn't just flattering me.

Before long, several young girls from the performing arts troupe gathered around and started chattering away.

"Oh my, Sister-in-law Jiang, your dress is so pretty! Where did you buy it?"

"Yes, yes, the fabric is so smooth, just like what the people in the magazines are wearing!"

Jiang Wanqiu was a little embarrassed by the praise, and a beautiful blush rose on her cheeks.

After Bai Weiwei finished applying her heavy stage makeup, she came out of the dressing room and saw Jiang Wanqiu surrounded by a crowd, treated like a star.

She sneered inwardly, "So smug, huh? I'll burn your lousy sheet music later and see how you'll show off on stage then!"

As she approached the stage, Jiang Wan composed herself, spread out her prized sheet music on the prop box, and prepared to familiarize herself with it one last time.

Just then, a person in charge of urging the crowd to move over came over and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Comrade Jiang Wanqiu! Come over here, I'll show you the way! Don't go the wrong way! Hurry up!"

Jiang Wanqiu responded and immediately got up to leave. Zhao Wenchang stood up and naturally followed behind her.

Upon seeing this, Bai Weiwei's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

The time has come!

She pretended to walk by, casually approaching the prop box, her eyes quickly scanning around.

Nobody was paying attention to this side.

She quickly pulled a box of matches from her pocket, turned her back to the crowd, and struck a match.

With a soft "sizzle," an orange flame danced on her fingertips.

She held the burning match close to a corner of the sheet music, watching as the fragile paper was licked by the flames, quickly curling and turning black, a burnt smell spreading out.

She quickly put her hands back in her pockets and turned to leave.

Over there, the person in charge was still talking to Jiang Wanqiu: "When the lights come on later, you go up from this opening on the left side of the stage..."

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp scream suddenly came from not far away—

"Fire! Oh dear, whose sheet music is on fire!"

Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Wanqiu almost instinctively turned around abruptly, her gaze piercing through the throng of people and landing directly on the prop box.

It really is her sheet music!

"My sheet music!" Jiang Wanqiu exclaimed, lifting her skirt and rushing over.

She had only been gone for less than a minute, practically touching! This fire couldn't have started on its own; it was clearly arson!

Fortunately, there were many people backstage, and a quick-thinking orderly picked up the enamel basin used for washing faces in the corner and poured a basin of cold water over his head.

With a hiss, the flame went out, leaving only a wisp of white smoke and the water-soaked, charred, and curled pages of paper.

Zhao Wenchang followed closely behind. He looked at the sheet music, which was mostly destroyed, and his face instantly darkened.

How dare they! Trying to pull something under his nose!

Jiang Wanqiu picked up the sheet music and looked at the object, which was mostly burned. She felt heartbroken and gasped for breath, but her mind was unusually clear.

She thought for a moment, then tiptoed and whispered a few words in Zhao Wenchang's ear.

Zhao Wenchang listened, nodded heavily, said nothing, and turned to squeeze out of the crowd.

"Next up! Violin solo 'The Soldiers of the Production and Construction Corps Have the Rising Sun in Their Hearts'! Comrade Jiang Wanqiu, get ready to go on stage!" The person in charge of urging the performance shouted loudly again.

Just as they were about to go on stage, Bai Weiwei slowly walked out from the corner, her face full of undisguised schadenfreude. She put on a fake voice and said, "Oh dear, Xiao Jiang, what are we going to do? The sheet music is burned like this, this program... I'm afraid we can't perform it, right? What a pity."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanqiu curled her lips into a cold smile: "Instead of worrying about me, you should worry more about yourself."

After saying that, she didn't even look at Bai Weiwei's astonished expression. Lifting her beautiful Western-style long dress, she walked straight to the stage amidst the surprised and uncertain gazes of the crowd.

The spotlight suddenly shone on her, and the audience fell silent instantly.

Bai Weiwei stood in the shadows backstage, staring intently at the figure on stage, with only one thought in her mind: How could this be! Without the sheet music, how dare she go on stage? Wasn't she afraid of embarrassing herself in front of the entire military region's leaders?

However, Jiang Wanqiu simply placed the violin on her beautifully shaped collarbone, closed her eyes slightly, and then a melodious and stirring tune flowed from the strings of her fingertips.

She doesn't need sheet music at all!

The melody of "Soldiers of the Production and Construction Corps Have the Rising Sun in Their Hearts" is not complicated, and she has already mastered it after playing it several times.

When the music ended, thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Bai Weiwei stood there with her mouth slightly open, not reacting for a moment.

Then what about all that effort I just put into burning the scorebook?

Jiang Wanqiu bowed and stepped off the stage, immediately spotting Zhao Wenchang waiting at the edge of the stage.

Without a word, the man took off his military overcoat and wrapped it tightly around her petite body. Then, he took her cold little hand and strode to the first row of the officers' seats.

"Chief Yue," Zhao Wenchang said, pulling out a chair for Jiang Wanqiu as he reported, "Someone deliberately set fire backstage and burned your sheet music. I've already sent people to investigate."

Commander Le's face was terrifyingly dark: "Who on earth is pulling these underhanded tricks in the military region! Wenchang, you must investigate thoroughly! Whoever it is, deal with them severely!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhao Wenchang saluted and turned to leave in a hurry.

"Sister Wanqiu, you played so beautifully!" Le Yunyun's eyes were full of admiration. "Let me tell you, out of all this messy program tonight, you're the only one that catches my eye!"

Looking at her father's silent, dark face beside her, she knew she had probably done something wrong again with good intentions, so she raised her glass in a conciliatory manner: "Dad, it's the New Year, don't look so long-faced, it's bad luck. Come on, let me toast you to calm you down."

Chief Le snorted, but still took the wine glass from his daughter and drank it all in one gulp.

The wine slid down his throat, but he made a "hmm?" sound and his brows furrowed tightly.

This wine... has a strange taste that I can't quite describe.

He picked up the bottle labeled "Maotai" on the table, shook it in the light, and muttered to himself, "That's strange."